White powdery stuff coming out from wool rug

[Anonymous]

Anyone know what that could be? We had water damage and the wool rug (Safavieh) was soaked. We dried it on the driveway for several days and then stored it in the garage for a year. Put it back and some kind of white dust keeps coming when we walk on it. I swept it at least 4 times and this was just not going away. is not drywall dust I guess since the drywall in that room was not demolished. I'm wondering what it could be? It looked like white shiny powder and had a strong chemical smell.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anyone know what that could be? We had water damage and the wool rug (Safavieh) was soaked. We dried it on the driveway for several days and then stored it in the garage for a year. Put it back and some kind of white dust keeps coming when we walk on it. I swept it at least 4 times and this was just not going away. is not drywall dust I guess since the drywall in that room was not demolished. I'm wondering what it could be? It looked like white shiny powder and had a strong chemical smell.

Sounds like mold and mold spores. Drying it on the driveway and then rolling it up and storing it isn’t the way to handle a wool rug. Sounds gross.

[Anonymous]

A chemical smelll doesn't sound like mold. I'd roll it back up and take it to a professional cleaner. If they can't fix it, time to dump it.

[Anonymous]

Fibers rotting and mold

[Anonymous]

Is it the backing disintegrating?

[Anonymous]

Mold

[Anonymous]

You need to look at the back of the rug. If you can see any kind of backing (something that looks rubber or burlap or anything that’s not just the back side of what you see on top), then it’s probably glue or something that has dissolved.

Rugs with a glued backing like that can’t really get wet. So when you shop for wool rugs it’s a good idea to look for ones without it (usually labeled hand knotted). That way they can be washed properly. You can do it yourself but it’s much easier to send it out to a facility with big spinning machines and rooms with circulating air to dry them.

In our climate a wet wool rug will take so long to dry without spinning and a drying room that it’s likely to mildew.

[Anonymous]

Glue

[Anonymous]

My guess is that it’s disintegrating either the glue or any rubber backing it may have.

[Anonymous]

We treat that brand of rug as a decent budget buy. But when it gets stained or worn, we toss it. I’d never try to revive a $200 years old rug with continued white powdery silvery chemically discharge.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We treat that brand of rug as a decent budget buy. But when it gets stained or worn, we toss it. I’d never try to revive a $200 years old rug with continued white powdery silvery chemically discharge.

It’s a giant brand. Just look at the back. As long as there’s no backing, it can be washed.

A year rolled up in a garage is asking a lot, of course. It might still be a goner.

But it’s not really about brand or price it’s about construction.

I have wool rugs I picked up for $<1000 that could probably outlive me. All they’d need after a flood is to be washed and dried properly.

[Anonymous]

I'd likely toss it, OP. You could ask a professional cleaner about it. In any event, stop exposing your family and pets to toxins.

[Anonymous]

Definitely toss it.
It’s a chemical breakdown of the backing disintegrating into dust.
To avoid having your family get sick from this, I’d throw it out.

[Anonymous]

Ok here. My rug is from this collection and the back looks similar to one of the pictures in the listing. No rubber or plastic that I see.
https://www.amazon.com/Safavieh-Aspen-Collection-APN110A-Premium/dp/B07BV43XH3/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?

[Anonymous]

Meant OP above.

Also didn't know mold could be white and powdery. Need to Google that.